Jason Anderson, Swale And Mount Eerie At Studio A in Burlington VT September 13, 2012
Words by Tim Lewis.
How easy is this? Walk a few blocks and see a great show in the North End of town. I like it. Being a huge Swale fan, bought at ticket for the show. It was set as doors at 8, but when I arrived they were not letting people in, the band was loading in and Mount Eerie had not shown up yet. I walked home, hung out for a bit then went back. People arrived and the show began.
Studio A is not a usual concert spot and the room was long and thin and had an extended section to the left, that went off at an angle. The floors were wood and the walls cement. It seemed a bit of an odd but workable venue. The show started when Jason Anderson dragged a chair into the middle of the room, stood up on in, and invited the audience to surround him. We did. He began playing his acoustic guitar and singing an odd song about addiction. While the tone seemed quirky at the onset, it changed into a very positive and uplifting attitude. He really worked all the lyrics, frequently stopped to say how much he appreciated our choice to spend a Thursday night with him, each other and music. It was very touching all the way through. Towards the end he asked us to sing the chorus of one of his songs. We did. There was a warm reverberation happening in the room and the several dozen people singing sounded like a full blown chorus. It was wonderful. Every moment of his show was riveting and enchanting. If you ever need a positive boost, just check out some of his music. He will get you turned around.
Since Jason just used an acoustic guitar in the middle of the room, it was a pretty quick wait for Swale to hit the stage. They came out and played a pretty gentle set. Most of the songs were mellower ones, though a couple rocked hard towards the end. Unfortunately, something was a bit off. They played a nice version of Soft Fireworks, but it took me half way through the song to recognize it. Something just did not sound right. I think what happened was that the room had so much reverberation that the sound was bouncing around the corner and coming back, and some of the sound got lost. Swale did a great job, as always, but in the end, it just was not the musical experience I was hoping for. Oh well.
After a bit longer of a break, Mount Eerie took the stage. They played as a five-piece, two guitars, bass, drums, keys. They had a nice heavy rocking sound, but again all of the detail got lost in the reverberation. There was no distinction between the guitars, and the whole sound was pretty muddy. I kind of like the intensity of Waves, and some of the others,but the sound was disappointing. I hung out for half a dozen songs, then headed home.
In the end, it was not the experience I hoped for, but I’m still glad I went. The Jason Anderson set made it all worthwhile. As for Swale, I would be seeing them again soon.
This post was originally published by Tim Lewis at his personal blog, https://timstriangletribune.wordpress.com.